VANCOUVER — A woman at the Occupy Vancouver camp died Saturday after being discovered in an “unresponsive” condition, police say.
The woman in her 20s was found in a tent by another protester. Paramedics took her to hospital where she was pronounced dead, Vancouver police said in a statement.
The cause of death has not been determined but there is no evidence to indicate foul play, police said.
The death comes amid concerns by Vancouver’s fire department about the conditions at the Occupy camp.
Lauren Gill, an organizer at the camp, said the woman apparently died of a drug overdose.
She said the death highlights the need for more addiction services because drugs are such a big issue in the city.
“I think it’s an issue that’s all over our city and this is why we need Insite,” she said of the supervised injection site in the Downtown Eastside, where people inject their own drugs under medical supervision.
Gill, who is running as an independent in this month’s civic elections, said that as an outreach worker in mental health and addiction services she has seen far too many overdose deaths.
“We just lost a member of our community,” she said. “It’s a really strong community down here and we’re going to do whatever we can to support each other.”
Gill said she does not want to turn the death into a political issue and is hoping other candidates don’t do that either.
The death apparently happened before a band called DOA started playing at the camp.
On Saturday, tensions seem to be growing at the site, where one television camera man was thrown to the ground and some protesters began hassling reporters.
Fire Chief John McKearney ordered protesters to remove large tarps, space out tents and take down tents after emergency personnel had difficulty getting accessing the site on Thursday to help someone who suffered a non-fatal drug overdose.
The protesters initially rejected McKearney’s concerns about safety, but removed some tarps.
Mayor Gregor Robertson has said he wants the Occupy protesters to leave the site, but hasn’t threatened to force them out or set any deadlines.